We now have Patreon! 🤜🤛 New Patron's will receive a welcome kit with goodies, access to a premium discord server and an free invite to our upcoming expo in the UK! Take a look at the benefits here 👉 www.patreon.com/retrododo
I never had an original LCD model to compare the screens directly, but from the comparisons I've seen online the battery improvement is pretty significant!
@RetroDodo I own both, and the same day I got my oled I installed DeckHD on my old one. Og model with deck HD does AAA titles at 1080p or 1200p better than oled. But anything at 800p with vibrant colors looks better on oled. God of war for example, looks better on deckhd than oled.
this comment is nonsense the oled deck has 90 hz screen hdr and is much brighter than deck HD its no were as good I had original deck and upgraded to oled is miles better plus the screen is bigger on the oled and ignore this guy above and original deck is only 60 hz
@gavrawlinson3099 do you have a deck HD? Sounds like your saying lcd vs oled. You're completely ignoring that deckhd is 1920x1200p, this increased resolution helps a lot on triple A titles that were designed to run at a minimum of 1920x1080p. Sure the colors won't be as nice, but the pixel clarity and texture quality makes a big difference. For example on the oled or the original lcd, games that were designed at 1920x1080p have this blurring effect on the edges of almost everything, but on deck hd you see clarity and crispness on the edges, no blur
I bought myself my first Steam Deck for Christmas. The OLED is very expensive here in Australia ($1279/£660) because we have to import it. Absolutely no regrets. It's an amazing handheld. Ive bought a few Android handhelds in the past, primarily for emulation but theyve always felt lacking in some area. The Steam Deck is great.
@@alphagodvon 512. I didn't want the screen that comes with the 1Tb and I bought a 512Gb MicroSD card for about $65AUD so it ended up being much cheaper than the 1Tb version.
I genuinely think that the video stuff from RetroDojo has quickly become their most impressive content. It’s all because of their new video host who just smashes out hit after hit. outstanding stuff!
There seems to be one way of transferring files, which every reviewer never mentions, but I use often... I make their folders "shared" on the network. Then from the Steam Deck's "Dekstop Mode" file browser you can copy them from the PC to the Deck. Admittedly, it's over wi-fi, so it's not the fastest option, but it is relatively easy and simple to set up, and if you keep saving files to these shared folders they are always available to be moved to the deck.
One of the biggest reasons i use my oled steam deck as an emulation device is because of the amazing docked experience. Being able to take the same device with the same games, saves, etc and play it on a TV, while being able to use any controller i want is incredible 💝
Same with android phones but yes steam deck is better since it can run for hours on emulation even on higher end and it has access to higher gens of consoles.
@tylerdurden6992 you can on android and steam deck too. My s24 I connect a 8 bit do wired USB controller attached to a usb to type c port adapter and wallah. Smooth and no lag.
The problem is that you are stuck at a tiny window with 800 p if you aren‘t in desktop mode. And to close your game, go to desktop mode isn‘t a smart solution for me. That‘s the reason i prefer the rog ally, you have 1080p plug and play in docked mode.
@alexh7513 if your doing emulation some consoles are also better on the og hardware than the emulator. Yeah you might not have fast forward or save states (some flashcarts have it) but you will have native performance with almost no issues. 3ds for example sucks on anything android or pc so I got a modded one coming in which I also did thru payment plan so it's not so expensive. And also got a wii which was only 35 with mad stuff that came with it that has native gamecube and wii and it's the wii with the gamecube ports too. Plus easy to mod so same free games as emulation but no dam shaders in metroid prime or the last story which I had so many crashes with on android. Or the rogue squadron games forget it.
Surprisingly I've been in the same situation! I didn't even initially want a Steam Deck for emulation at all, but after I saw how good it was it's practically all I've been doing 😅
@@melissar.7802 it is. Its a piece of Software downloading emus for nearly all Systems and Auto cobfiguring them for an easy plug & play expierience. Didnt look into emulation too much the recent years but it was a 5 min install to enjoy my old loved ones from gamecube directly from the steam OS.
Yep the Deck is great, I upgraded to the OLED and what a difference. I normally use the Deck for the higher end systems like the Switch. For travelling light I have the Retroid Pocket flip and for ultra light the Miyoo Mini + Obviously that is for the low end systems, but I get my fix of Metroid when travelling.
Haven't even watched the video yet, but I've had my Deck OLED since launch and this is primarily what I use it for. It's incredible. I would HIGHLY recommend this for emulation simply because it's perfect in almost any emulation use case and it does everything else as well. Such an amazing piece of hardware.
I'm a recent steam deck owner and I'm very happy with my purchase. I have the 528bg OLED version. And it's hard to pick between the PS5 and steam deck sometimes. Because of the emulation.
I prefer to add my games individually to my Steam Library so that they can each have their own unique controller settings. If you launch everything through emulation station, you'll have to change settings when you switch systems.
Just a tip for people who are new looking into a Deck.... The OLED model is like $549. With some hunting around you can find the LCD model used (Facebook marketplace, ebay, etc) for around $200-275. No question less than 1/2 the price, and a steal at that for what you're getting. A 64gb model with a 512gb MicroSD card and you're ready for almost every rom you can think about. If you have seen the difference an OLED display makes, it's amazing but, the LCD screen is still really nice. Battery in the OLED deck is 50wh, on the LCD it's 40wh. So, the OLED is better but, it's not like crazy better. The memory and processing power is about the same (OLED uses faster memory so seeing 1-3 fps faster is possible), performance is going to be very close to each other. What I am saying, do not dismiss the LCD model if budget is a factor here, you can get a lot of bang for your buck with an LCD model and get the same overall experience. And one of the HUGE features of the EmuDeck, is cloud sync of saves/states. This will be coming to a Windows version too. You can play a game on your PC, boot up your deck and continue exactly where you were. This works across the board too, even Switch games....
You're completely right, but the battery on the oled is actually 50 to 100% better, because of the better processor inside the oled deck. And that is a huge in rise imo
@@rodrigoferreiramaciel4815 Not going to say 50% more better, even tests show it's about 25-30% better than the LCD. It is better though. I would not even touch the OLED model right now. I dual boot with Windows. The reason, I have GamePass (streaming sucks over Cell signal) and modern Call Of duty games. The OLED model is missing Windows drivers and seeing Steam's history of updating Windows drivers, they might never show up. By the way, the 50w battery from the OLED will fit inside the LCD and work..... So when my battery starts to suck, I will be buying the 50w battery...
Playing Metroid prime trilogy with prime hack on the OLED deck is…a dream come true. It’s sooooooo smooth. There’s a slight pause when you open a door but other than that it feels like it was made for the damn thing.
FYI on your computer you can format the SD to exFAT and it will work on PC, Mac, and the Steam Deck to make file transfer easy. EMUDeck runs on the internal SSD and the ROM stay on the SD saving space on the Deck.
Huh, that's interesting. I thought you had to format the card with the Steam Deck itself in order for it to be recognised. Doing it your way would make things significantly more simple. Thanks for the tip!
You don't need a seperate device to transfer files between SteamOS and Windows. You can do it via Wifi transfer with various programs. At the moment, I'm using KDE Link on Windows.
Thanks, I was wondering about this since it's what I do to send files between phone and tablet. Now I know I don't need to order another device to move my files
The cheaper option is to go with the LCD model, works great. I've finally gotten around to installing emulators on mine. One advantage with the deck are the track pads, I've been using them when navigating settings menu's for emulators, for when you want to quickly change some settings. Really useful.
I have the O.G LCD Steam deck bought it on release date and more than happy with it do not need to upgrade to OLED maybe in time I will. But agree the emulation is great on it been enjoying playing The Last Story on Wii!
3:12 you could also share a folder on your pc over the network (smb) and copy the roms that way. No need for a dock or waiting for slow usb thumb drives.
Steamdeck is great since you don't need to remap controls in mutiple emulators when using the handheld controls then switching to using external controllers when docked to the tv. This is my main gripe with my Retroid Pocket 3+ and other retro consoles. The steamdeck just works.
I've been planning to get Steam Deck just for emulation and probably a few easy-to-run Steam games but I may have to hold on to that considering I upgraded my PC recently.
there is an acessory for the deck that can be used to play original gba catridges... but its kinda of an work arround since it will be hooked to the deck with an wire +adapter
I would really recommend transferring files to the steam deck over SSH. It's trivial to setup and means you're not constantly messing with USB dongles and taking your SD card in and out
Nice review. I've watched quite a few of these Steam Deck review, and yours is one of the best. I've been bouncing back-and-forth between the Steam Deck and the Odin 2. Today I'm thinking Steam Deck, with the bigger screen tipping the scale. 6" on the Odin 2 for these older eyes would be less than ideal.
It really is my favourite gaming device I’ve ever used and I’m including everything, handhelds, consoles, pcs, apple devices etc I never thought of something like this coming along. I always used to say I wish there was a console that played everything! Little did I expect the steam deck to be pretty much just that or as close as possible. I cannot wait till steam deck 2, I think the big jump the second one will make is going to be the system itself with all games being supported and naturally work (or at least I hope so)
I’m waiting for the true second generation which should be out in the next year or so with upgraded processors, hopefully using the upgraded 3nm chips.
Probably in 2026, but nobody knows for sure. All I know is that I absolutely love my Steam Deck OLED and I will definitely upgrade to the Steam Deck 2 whenever it comes out.
I completely agree with you. I have also a Legion Go, with its amazing 8,4’ display, and its extra power over Steamdeck, but Valve’s Handheld is so comfortable, user friendly, optimized, and I always choose it instead of Legion.
I recently went to Japan and while I was there I wanted to get an OLED Deck but they were literally completely unavailable I even tried to buy the display models and it was a firm no. So I just bought the normal one instead, very happy with it it's super cool put the steam games I wanted on it and a decent library of emulated classics.
This is a really great video! It gives me a really good idea of what I can do with my deck. Thank you and keep up the great work! I have dropped a subscribe ^_^
Day to day, I find the Rg35xx plus great, because I can always carry it with my no matter what I'm doing and where I am. Since most people aren't always on an airplane or will never be on a airplane you are basically stuck at home with the steam deck. You can just install the emulators on your PC and play them just add well at home.
Thanks for a nice video. Very thorough and well produced. What I did for my Roms is put then on my google drive and just download them on the steam deck. Miis don't matter to me so used some downloaded keys to bypass it.
Bought an LCD a week before the last sale preceeding the OLED release (lol) and I say it's still worth every penny. Between my library of backed-up games, several old MMOs, FFXIV, and my steam catalog, I now have virtually all of my entire life's gaming career on one device.
@@RetroDodo let me clarify, I ordered one yesterday, so I'm still waiting😅, Not the oled but for £115 I really can't complain about a matt finish display. I heard it's an emulation beast, and seeing your vid put my mind at ease in making the right choice, but again for £115 fully loaded I can't complain.
That is an absolutely incredible price! You definitely got a good deal there and I can guarantee you'll be happy with it. Not only is it basically the perfect emulation device but it's also given me a reason to tackle my Steam backlog 😅
What's crazy is how well it runs PS3 titles through emulation. I really didn't expect Demon's Souls to be playable, yet it is with some fairly minor tweaks.
What are ur setting to combat frame dropping on ps3 games. Case and point when playing asuras wrath on certain battle scenes my deck would drop frames badly
It's the best overall device for emulation, in my opinion. A good handheld just feels right for emulation. I strongly. prefer it over a desktop PC for emulation. And I just love its power and ability to emulate almost everything. Not to mention its ability to play PC games and function as a PC for other tasks and entertainment.
I was one of the ambassadors with the steam deck, knowing they had this down the pipeline I would have definitely waited a couple of years to get it. I still love my steam deck but the battery kills me sometimes, and the wifi
I have the OLED SD and agree it's fantastic system for emulation. The only thing I'd wished Valve had changed was to add another usb-c port and to allow 2280 NVME drives to be fitted, one of these with a 4TB NVME and a 1.5TB SD card would be fantastic would be able to carry the majority of my pc and emulator games without needing external drives.
I’ve got an ROG ally but really thinking of upgrading to the Deck OLED. Fought the urge to buy a deck for a long time and kind of regret it. The ally is nice but not as comfortable as id like and the battery life is not great, even emulating and playing indie games. Do have a warranty so may just keep it but i do really want to try the deck, that DPAD looks so much nicer!
Depends on what you want from a handheld, if you want to play every game smooth than the ally is the way to go. Most games run an 720 p and 40 fps. A lot of games struggle 30 fps on the deck. But yeah for emulation or older games, the steamdeck oled is the best choice. If you want the max power, than the rog ally. Also better standby mode and docked experience on the ally.
Bought the OLED model for xmas for the wifey. Mainly just to get her off my PC playing Hogwarts and RDR2. She has been playing on the Deck almost daily since then. What a great device. I've also played on it quite a bit. Finished Burnout 2 on Dolphin emulator, played some new Zelda on it with the Switch emulator, cause FU Nintendo. Love using it as a Plex media streaming device while on longer trips. It plays most of my PC games really well too and in a pinch, works as a full blown PC when connected to an external monitor. Such a versatile device. For a Linux user the device feels so natural to use. Valve has done a brilliant job.
I don't get why people complain about battery life. I have the absolute first LCD model of the Steam Deck and I find it ridicolous that I can play Cyberpunk for 3 hours at 30fps. However you need to be a tiny bit tech savvy as YOU are in control of YOUR battery life. For Cyberpunk it will eat all the performance it can get (that's the way the engine is designed), but you can still lock it to 30fps with a TDP limit of 9W and get 3 hours on the LCD model (9W on OLED model is not the same). And when playing 2D emulation I usually get somewhere between 7.5-8.5 hours of playtime. 3D Emulation like Dreamcast I can easily get 6hours... Lighter Switch games like Captain Toad, Metroid Dread, Link's Awakening etc. 5hours. And the OLED has better battery. So, is the battery really that bad? I don't think so, but people running the device at full tilt without any sort of battery optimization will get about 1.5hours... And the reason they don't get more is because they use all the watts the device can deliver. If you are plugged in, it's great to have that option, but it's not particularly great for battery life.
PSA: You don't actually need a USB drive to transfer your roms from your pc to your steam deck. You can use kde connect wich is present by default on the steam deck and works flawlessly. There's also an application for mobile if you want to control your steam deck that way
Thanks Rob for the video. What about the Switch emulator ? Is it available trough the Steam Deck ? I was looking to buy a windows based handheld because of the full Game Pass possibility and for use Yuzu and Dolphing for some Nintendo consoles emulation, but your final consideratoin on the video makes me reconsider the chance to purchase an OLED Steam Deck. You're the devil in disguise :D ah ah
I'll keep the LCD for a while longer. Hopefully there will be an original battery upgrade if solid state batteries finally take off. Or any other technology really. Its taking almost as much time as cold fusion...
I feel like some of the people that don't like the resolution hear the number and don't take the resolution/size ratio into account. If I were to upgrade the steam deck oled, the screen wouldn't be a priority at all. Of course, running better at higher resolutions when docking to a screen would be amazing, it would be especially cool if they came out with a modular option that lets us apply that to our already owned decks. Might already exist as far as I know!
I have my ROG Ally but with a Xreal Air 2 Pro with an oled screen per eye now I never play without my ar glasses on someday I’ll get Apple Vision Pro for the best immersion all using a handheld After playing with the ar glasses in I take them off the Ally screen looks washed out so Steam Deck OLED is the best handheld console at this time for emulation if you don’t want to use ar glasses or xr headsets the OLED screen is so vibrant
Yeah I will admit, I completely overlooked that. I'm so used to transferring files with microSD cards and stuff like that, that I didn't even consider doing it over LAN 😅 that would be much easier way if doing it. Still, for those of us who are living in the past I think the whole USB drive thing was probably worth mentioning! - Rob
Well for the middle ground you could have mentioned the 512gb OLED which is the one i own and for emulation i have a 1.5TB SD card in my Deck which i have emudeck installed onto. Right now, i am waiting for if Valve plans on making a Steam Deck 2 while using a custom Ryzen AI CPU instead because it would be cool if the iGPU performs like the RX 570/580 which for emulation you could hook it up to your 4K tele to get better smoother gameplay on a bigger display.
The only bad thing about the steam deck I will warn people about is the black screen of death issue. It doesn’t happen too often but the console will decide just not to boot up and there are ways to get it to come back to life but worse case scenario people have had to have their steam deck replaced. It’s a major issue I hope Valve is going to do something about.
From what's iv seen it seems people have been putting the deck to sleep and not shutting it down then leaving it sit for a few days killing the battery, plug it into the charger for 30mins to a hour and hold the power button should boot right back up
@@inthedark65 I got mine to come back on by doing the battery storage mode trick. For the record I turn mine off when I’m not using it for a while or at night. It only happened to me once while it was sleeping for just a few minutes while I was going to the restroom. It wouldn’t load up and the fan would come on and off loudly. Was weird.
Does emudeck use retroarch as it's emulation backend? I'm a big fan of RA's shaders, and it would be amazing to have the ready to go after installation.
@@NinjaWeedle yeah, I knew that, but I just wanted to know if retroarch was one of the options. I managed to get Emudeck running and my Roms transfered after a great deal of googling and troubleshooting. I'm still testing things out but I absolutely love my Steam Deck and Emudeck.
Yes, EmuDeck does use RetroArch but, not for all systems. Like for the SNES for example, I PREFER BSNES-HD, it gives 16:9 backgrounds without stretching. I can change this fairly easy too.
Hoping to replace my heavy laptop with this and a tablet PC setup for less than 2G USD.. not a high end user.. its easier to carry around.. need a bigger screen, can just get a portable screen monitor and a power bank
tbh if you know where to get trusty roms for your games you don't even need a PC the steam deck is the pc and has a browser in the desktop mode so go into desktop mod download the rom you want and place the file in the proper roms folder and your set
Let me save you almost 16 minutes. Yes. It is the most wonderful thing you will ever experience. Do it. Stop hesitating, don’t think about, and feel free to thank me later. 😂
I wish we could get an Apple Silicon handheld. I think the power and efficiency would be perfect for retro gaming. The issue is that if Apple made one it would be so locked out, like their "i" devices, and they will never release "Mx" chips etc to 3rd party developers. I didnt like the hassels I had with my LCD Steam Deck but hats off to Valve for all the improvements the OLED version brought
good afternoon folks! Can you help me? I have a question like that, Legion go or Steam deck OLED? I really want a gaming laptop, which one at the moment, in your opinion, is better?
I've bought my LCD deck literally a week before they announced the OLED.... I love my deck and i play it all the time, but i wish i had the chance bach then to get the OLED instead...
is emulating on Go really alot worse? i ordered the lenovo go because it has more power than teh SD oled and now i am not sure if i made the right choice. i want to play modern switch games
Not a fan of 8/16 bit systems on the Steam Deck due to the low DPI and average D-pad. For modern systems it’s great but as mentioned there’s quite a few hoops to jump through which is a little off putting. Overall I generally prefer a dedicated emulation handheld.
@@UmVtCg LOL. I’m talking about that the 4.7” screen displays 4:3 games at a mere 3.8” and even less for 8:7 and GB games. You’ll need those triggers in top shape for games that fill that widescreen though.
I have a lot of SNES, GBA, GBC, and Sega Genesis roms on my desktop, so would they run on the Steam Deck and auto adjust to the FPS on each game for the best performance and optimization? If I can get download roms for free and the Steam deck can play them through the dock station with a usb or a micro sd card, I would totally get this over the AYN Odin 2. My only concern is the battery life running SNES, GBA, GBC, Genesis, Dreamcast, N64, PS1, PS2, GameCube, Xbox, Android and PC games. I play a lot of 2D games, so I play up to 2-3 hours at a time on video games.
We now have Patreon! 🤜🤛 New Patron's will receive a welcome kit with goodies, access to a premium discord server and an free invite to our upcoming expo in the UK! Take a look at the benefits here 👉 www.patreon.com/retrododo
I'm blown away by the OLED, I liked the original anyway but the Battery improvement on the LCD along with the screen is just insane.
I never had an original LCD model to compare the screens directly, but from the comparisons I've seen online the battery improvement is pretty significant!
@RetroDodo I own both, and the same day I got my oled I installed DeckHD on my old one. Og model with deck HD does AAA titles at 1080p or 1200p better than oled. But anything at 800p with vibrant colors looks better on oled. God of war for example, looks better on deckhd than oled.
this comment is nonsense the oled deck has 90 hz screen hdr and is much brighter than deck HD its no were as good I had original deck and upgraded to oled is miles better plus the screen is bigger on the oled and ignore this guy above and original deck is only 60 hz
@gavrawlinson3099 do you have a deck HD? Sounds like your saying lcd vs oled. You're completely ignoring that deckhd is 1920x1200p, this increased resolution helps a lot on triple A titles that were designed to run at a minimum of 1920x1080p. Sure the colors won't be as nice, but the pixel clarity and texture quality makes a big difference. For example on the oled or the original lcd, games that were designed at 1920x1080p have this blurring effect on the edges of almost everything, but on deck hd you see clarity and crispness on the edges, no blur
@@TechCartelSF6 Dude, I'm not risking dismantling the entire thing just to replace the screen to get a small bump and in resolution 😅
I bought myself my first Steam Deck for Christmas. The OLED is very expensive here in Australia ($1279/£660) because we have to import it. Absolutely no regrets. It's an amazing handheld. Ive bought a few Android handhelds in the past, primarily for emulation but theyve always felt lacking in some area. The Steam Deck is great.
You got the 512 or 1tb??
@@alphagodvon 512. I didn't want the screen that comes with the 1Tb and I bought a 512Gb MicroSD card for about $65AUD so it ended up being much cheaper than the 1Tb version.
I bought the 512g oled SD for the samsung oled panel. To many dead pixels on the LE SD.
Ayn Odin 2 pro, baby.
I genuinely think that the video stuff from RetroDojo has quickly become their most impressive content. It’s all because of their new video host who just smashes out hit after hit. outstanding stuff!
There seems to be one way of transferring files, which every reviewer never mentions, but I use often... I make their folders "shared" on the network. Then from the Steam Deck's "Dekstop Mode" file browser you can copy them from the PC to the Deck. Admittedly, it's over wi-fi, so it's not the fastest option, but it is relatively easy and simple to set up, and if you keep saving files to these shared folders they are always available to be moved to the deck.
steam deck oled has wifi 6 - it's quiet easy to get 900 mbps download throughput in the same room with decent router for ~50 USD
@@KlaudiuszzBigBrothera also SyncThing is a very good very pog program
One of the biggest reasons i use my oled steam deck as an emulation device is because of the amazing docked experience.
Being able to take the same device with the same games, saves, etc and play it on a TV, while being able to use any controller i want is incredible 💝
Same with android phones but yes steam deck is better since it can run for hours on emulation even on higher end and it has access to higher gens of consoles.
you could have just use a controller on pc and emulate there
@tylerdurden6992 you can on android and steam deck too. My s24 I connect a 8 bit do wired USB controller attached to a usb to type c port adapter and wallah. Smooth and no lag.
The problem is that you are stuck at a tiny window with 800 p if you aren‘t in desktop mode. And to close your game, go to desktop mode isn‘t a smart solution for me. That‘s the reason i prefer the rog ally, you have 1080p plug and play in docked mode.
@alexh7513 if your doing emulation some consoles are also better on the og hardware than the emulator. Yeah you might not have fast forward or save states (some flashcarts have it) but you will have native performance with almost no issues. 3ds for example sucks on anything android or pc so I got a modded one coming in which I also did thru payment plan so it's not so expensive. And also got a wii which was only 35 with mad stuff that came with it that has native gamecube and wii and it's the wii with the gamecube ports too. Plus easy to mod so same free games as emulation but no dam shaders in metroid prime or the last story which I had so many crashes with on android. Or the rogue squadron games forget it.
Emulation is the number one usage category for my steam deck. Emudeck is fantastic and so easy to setup and use.
Surprisingly I've been in the same situation! I didn't even initially want a Steam Deck for emulation at all, but after I saw how good it was it's practically all I've been doing 😅
Is Emudeck free ?
@@melissar.7802 it is. Its a piece of Software downloading emus for nearly all Systems and Auto cobfiguring them for an easy plug & play expierience. Didnt look into emulation too much the recent years but it was a 5 min install to enjoy my old loved ones from gamecube directly from the steam OS.
@@melissar.7802Sure is. Get it before they charge you
@@melissar.7802Yes
Yep the Deck is great, I upgraded to the OLED and what a difference. I normally use the Deck for the higher end systems like the Switch. For travelling light I have the Retroid Pocket flip and for ultra light the Miyoo Mini + Obviously that is for the low end systems, but I get my fix of Metroid when travelling.
Haven't even watched the video yet, but I've had my Deck OLED since launch and this is primarily what I use it for. It's incredible. I would HIGHLY recommend this for emulation simply because it's perfect in almost any emulation use case and it does everything else as well. Such an amazing piece of hardware.
What’s your favorite emu game
I'm a recent steam deck owner and I'm very happy with my purchase. I have the 528bg OLED version. And it's hard to pick between the PS5 and steam deck sometimes. Because of the emulation.
I have a ps5 and just ordered a steamdeck yesterday this was the perfect comment to read
I prefer to add my games individually to my Steam Library so that they can each have their own unique controller settings. If you launch everything through emulation station, you'll have to change settings when you switch systems.
Just a tip for people who are new looking into a Deck.... The OLED model is like $549. With some hunting around you can find the LCD model used (Facebook marketplace, ebay, etc) for around $200-275. No question less than 1/2 the price, and a steal at that for what you're getting. A 64gb model with a 512gb MicroSD card and you're ready for almost every rom you can think about.
If you have seen the difference an OLED display makes, it's amazing but, the LCD screen is still really nice. Battery in the OLED deck is 50wh, on the LCD it's 40wh. So, the OLED is better but, it's not like crazy better. The memory and processing power is about the same (OLED uses faster memory so seeing 1-3 fps faster is possible), performance is going to be very close to each other.
What I am saying, do not dismiss the LCD model if budget is a factor here, you can get a lot of bang for your buck with an LCD model and get the same overall experience.
And one of the HUGE features of the EmuDeck, is cloud sync of saves/states. This will be coming to a Windows version too. You can play a game on your PC, boot up your deck and continue exactly where you were. This works across the board too, even Switch games....
You're completely right, but the battery on the oled is actually 50 to 100% better, because of the better processor inside the oled deck. And that is a huge in rise imo
@@rodrigoferreiramaciel4815 Not going to say 50% more better, even tests show it's about 25-30% better than the LCD. It is better though.
I would not even touch the OLED model right now. I dual boot with Windows. The reason, I have GamePass (streaming sucks over Cell signal) and modern Call Of duty games. The OLED model is missing Windows drivers and seeing Steam's history of updating Windows drivers, they might never show up.
By the way, the 50w battery from the OLED will fit inside the LCD and work..... So when my battery starts to suck, I will be buying the 50w battery...
Perfectly put, my friend. I have the 256 GB version with a 500 GB SD card and I'm off to the races.
@@rodrigoferreiramaciel4815it contains the same cpu and gpu as the lcd. Stop reaching
@@johnboy4955 The engraving is finer and gives much better battery life. On big games, this can even be doubled.
Playing Metroid prime trilogy with prime hack on the OLED deck is…a dream come true. It’s sooooooo smooth. There’s a slight pause when you open a door but other than that it feels like it was made for the damn thing.
Prime Hack is amazing! Insane how good Prime 3 looks and plays on the Deck.
FYI on your computer you can format the SD to exFAT and it will work on PC, Mac, and the Steam Deck to make file transfer easy.
EMUDeck runs on the internal SSD and the ROM stay on the SD saving space on the Deck.
Huh, that's interesting. I thought you had to format the card with the Steam Deck itself in order for it to be recognised. Doing it your way would make things significantly more simple. Thanks for the tip!
You don't need a seperate device to transfer files between SteamOS and Windows. You can do it via Wifi transfer with various programs. At the moment, I'm using KDE Link on Windows.
Surely you can just go to desktop mode and download them on to the deck directly?
Thanks, I was wondering about this since it's what I do to send files between phone and tablet. Now I know I don't need to order another device to move my files
The cheaper option is to go with the LCD model, works great. I've finally gotten around to installing emulators on mine.
One advantage with the deck are the track pads, I've been using them when navigating settings menu's for emulators, for when you want to quickly change some settings. Really useful.
I have the O.G LCD Steam deck bought it on release date and more than happy with it do not need to upgrade to OLED maybe in time I will.
But agree the emulation is great on it been enjoying playing The Last Story on Wii!
Yes I also play the last story on my steam deck
Did you have trouble mapping the controls for Wii or was it all ready to go when you started the game?
you actually dont need to use a usb stick to transfer your roms, you can connect to your pc through network folder sharing in desktop mode.
Great video. It’s what I needed to finally get me to buy a SD
3:12 you could also share a folder on your pc over the network (smb) and copy the roms that way. No need for a dock or waiting for slow usb thumb drives.
Steamdeck is great since you don't need to remap controls in mutiple emulators when using the handheld controls then switching to using external controllers when docked to the tv. This is my main gripe with my Retroid Pocket 3+ and other retro consoles. The steamdeck just works.
I've been planning to get Steam Deck just for emulation and probably a few easy-to-run Steam games but I may have to hold on to that considering I upgraded my PC recently.
Get it in a pay in 4.
there is an acessory for the deck that can be used to play original gba catridges... but its kinda of an work arround since it will be hooked to the deck with an wire +adapter
I would really recommend transferring files to the steam deck over SSH. It's trivial to setup and means you're not constantly messing with USB dongles and taking your SD card in and out
I transfered files between the deck and my PC without any hassle using an application called "any desk" on desktop mode
Nice review. I've watched quite a few of these Steam Deck review, and yours is one of the best. I've been bouncing back-and-forth between the Steam Deck and the Odin 2. Today I'm thinking Steam Deck, with the bigger screen tipping the scale. 6" on the Odin 2 for these older eyes would be less than ideal.
Thanks!
The heck is an Odin 2?
Your future is as bright as your head keep up the work!
It really is my favourite gaming device I’ve ever used and I’m including everything, handhelds, consoles, pcs, apple devices etc
I never thought of something like this coming along. I always used to say I wish there was a console that played everything! Little did I expect the steam deck to be pretty much just that or as close as possible. I cannot wait till steam deck 2, I think the big jump the second one will make is going to be the system itself with all games being supported and naturally work (or at least I hope so)
Great video. Really informative.
Just got mine and a computer noob but so far I’m loving it
I’m waiting for the true second generation which should be out in the next year or so with upgraded processors, hopefully using the upgraded 3nm chips.
Probably in 2026, but nobody knows for sure.
All I know is that I absolutely love my Steam Deck OLED and I will definitely upgrade to the Steam Deck 2 whenever it comes out.
Dream on. Valve aren't going piss off every current owner with an upgraded model so soon. If they even release a new model at all.
@@Nickbaldeagle02Four years is a perfectly reasonable PC upgrade cycle.
@@toddjones1480 the Steam Deck is not getting upgraded. Deal with it.
Thats gonna be like, late 2026. Valve wants to wait until they can make actual meaningful upgrades, while maintaining good battery and price.
Just got the Steam Deck OLED and all I can say it is so much more responsive than the LCD.
I completely agree with you. I have also a Legion Go, with its amazing 8,4’ display, and its extra power over Steamdeck, but Valve’s Handheld is so comfortable, user friendly, optimized, and I always choose it instead of Legion.
do you stil play your SD more than your legion go?
Yes! I use it for emulation and rom hacks. It’s awesome! Took some time to figure out how to get it all to work properly but it works good.
RetroDeck is one of the best ways.
I recently went to Japan and while I was there I wanted to get an OLED Deck but they were literally completely unavailable I even tried to buy the display models and it was a firm no. So I just bought the normal one instead, very happy with it it's super cool put the steam games I wanted on it and a decent library of emulated classics.
Emudeck includes games in the library by default?
If you have the Roms yes.@@alexg350
This is a really great video! It gives me a really good idea of what I can do with my deck. Thank you and keep up the great work! I have dropped a subscribe ^_^
Day to day, I find the Rg35xx plus great, because I can always carry it with my no matter what I'm doing and where I am. Since most people aren't always on an airplane or will never be on a airplane you are basically stuck at home with the steam deck. You can just install the emulators on your PC and play them just add well at home.
Just received the Deck on Monday, and since then I've spent my entire time emulating and installing all those old nostalgic games 😂
Thanks for a nice video. Very thorough and well produced.
What I did for my Roms is put then on my google drive and just download them on the steam deck.
Miis don't matter to me so used some downloaded keys to bypass it.
Bought an LCD a week before the last sale preceeding the OLED release (lol) and I say it's still worth every penny.
Between my library of backed-up games, several old MMOs, FFXIV, and my steam catalog, I now have virtually all of my entire life's gaming career on one device.
I picked up one yesterday for dirt cheap, thanks for another big vid 🔥🔥🔥
That's awesome! How are you finding it so far? It's been the only thing I've played games on for a couple of months now 😅
@@RetroDodo let me clarify, I ordered one yesterday, so I'm still waiting😅, Not the oled but for £115 I really can't complain about a matt finish display. I heard it's an emulation beast, and seeing your vid put my mind at ease in making the right choice, but again for £115 fully loaded I can't complain.
That is an absolutely incredible price! You definitely got a good deal there and I can guarantee you'll be happy with it. Not only is it basically the perfect emulation device but it's also given me a reason to tackle my Steam backlog 😅
I own steam controllers and the deck didnt disappoint with controller customization
An OLED?
I figured that the OLED screen would je marvelous for the bright and colorfull retro games.
What's crazy is how well it runs PS3 titles through emulation. I really didn't expect Demon's Souls to be playable, yet it is with some fairly minor tweaks.
What are ur setting to combat frame dropping on ps3 games. Case and point when playing asuras wrath on certain battle scenes my deck would drop frames badly
Pretty much only use mine for emulation! Such a great device
You can use the touchpad as a Wii pointer !
Yeah, after getting the OLED Deck all of the janky Chinese emulation devices kinda just seem silly now...
It's the best overall device for emulation, in my opinion. A good handheld just feels right for emulation. I strongly. prefer it over a desktop PC for emulation. And I just love its power and ability to emulate almost everything. Not to mention its ability to play PC games and function as a PC for other tasks and entertainment.
I was one of the ambassadors with the steam deck, knowing they had this down the pipeline I would have definitely waited a couple of years to get it. I still love my steam deck but the battery kills me sometimes, and the wifi
Damnit. Now I am once again wishing to buy a SDOLED
Get it on a pay in 4 .
I have the OLED SD and agree it's fantastic system for emulation. The only thing I'd wished Valve had changed was to add another usb-c port and to allow 2280 NVME drives to be fitted, one of these with a 4TB NVME and a 1.5TB SD card would be fantastic would be able to carry the majority of my pc and emulator games without needing external drives.
The 1.5TB SD are out. But who knows what the future might hold.
I’ve got an ROG ally but really thinking of upgrading to the Deck OLED. Fought the urge to buy a deck for a long time and kind of regret it. The ally is nice but not as comfortable as id like and the battery life is not great, even emulating and playing indie games. Do have a warranty so may just keep it but i do really want to try the deck, that DPAD looks so much nicer!
I also had an ally, then switched to a deck oled- best decision ive made. Sold the ally…….
Depends on what you want from a handheld, if you want to play every game smooth than the ally is the way to go. Most games run an 720 p and 40 fps. A lot of games struggle 30 fps on the deck. But yeah for emulation or older games, the steamdeck oled is the best choice. If you want the max power, than the rog ally.
Also better standby mode and docked experience on the ally.
Bought the OLED model for xmas for the wifey. Mainly just to get her off my PC playing Hogwarts and RDR2. She has been playing on the Deck almost daily since then. What a great device. I've also played on it quite a bit. Finished Burnout 2 on Dolphin emulator, played some new Zelda on it with the Switch emulator, cause FU Nintendo. Love using it as a Plex media streaming device while on longer trips. It plays most of my PC games really well too and in a pinch, works as a full blown PC when connected to an external monitor. Such a versatile device. For a Linux user the device feels so natural to use. Valve has done a brilliant job.
I don't get why people complain about battery life. I have the absolute first LCD model of the Steam Deck and I find it ridicolous that I can play Cyberpunk for 3 hours at 30fps. However you need to be a tiny bit tech savvy as YOU are in control of YOUR battery life. For Cyberpunk it will eat all the performance it can get (that's the way the engine is designed), but you can still lock it to 30fps with a TDP limit of 9W and get 3 hours on the LCD model (9W on OLED model is not the same). And when playing 2D emulation I usually get somewhere between 7.5-8.5 hours of playtime. 3D Emulation like Dreamcast I can easily get 6hours... Lighter Switch games like Captain Toad, Metroid Dread, Link's Awakening etc. 5hours. And the OLED has better battery. So, is the battery really that bad? I don't think so, but people running the device at full tilt without any sort of battery optimization will get about 1.5hours... And the reason they don't get more is because they use all the watts the device can deliver. If you are plugged in, it's great to have that option, but it's not particularly great for battery life.
PSA: You don't actually need a USB drive to transfer your roms from your pc to your steam deck. You can use kde connect wich is present by default on the steam deck and works flawlessly.
There's also an application for mobile if you want to control your steam deck that way
The Steam Deck OLED is incredible. It's my favorite gaming device of all time. There's just so much you can do on this handheld.
I was considering high end handhelds until I upgraded my pc, it now just runs EVERYTHING. So handhelds up to PSONE is just enough now
Thanks Rob for the video. What about the Switch emulator ? Is it available trough the Steam Deck ? I was looking to buy a windows based handheld because of the full Game Pass possibility and for use Yuzu and Dolphing for some Nintendo consoles emulation, but your final consideratoin on the video makes me reconsider the chance to purchase an OLED Steam Deck. You're the devil in disguise :D ah ah
Yes, it can run Switch emulators.
Yuzu works great on it
@@brandsmp Thanks a lot
That's an easy answer: a big profound YES!
I'll keep the LCD for a while longer. Hopefully there will be an original battery upgrade if solid state batteries finally take off. Or any other technology really. Its taking almost as much time as cold fusion...
Purchased a portable battery charger
I feel like some of the people that don't like the resolution hear the number and don't take the resolution/size ratio into account.
If I were to upgrade the steam deck oled, the screen wouldn't be a priority at all.
Of course, running better at higher resolutions when docking to a screen would be amazing, it would be especially cool if they came out with a modular option that lets us apply that to our already owned decks. Might already exist as far as I know!
I have my ROG Ally but with a Xreal Air 2 Pro with an oled screen per eye now I never play without my ar glasses on someday I’ll get Apple Vision Pro for the best immersion all using a handheld
After playing with the ar glasses in I take them off the Ally screen looks washed out so Steam Deck OLED is the best handheld console at this time for emulation if you don’t want to use ar glasses or xr headsets the OLED screen is so vibrant
Needed help for sorting out roms as in is there a way to know if a certain mame rom is of which year ? Emudeck has more then one mame roms folder
2:45 No you do not need an additional storage device if you have a Windows PC. Use WinSCP to transfer roms over your LAN from a PC to the SD OLED.
Yeah I will admit, I completely overlooked that. I'm so used to transferring files with microSD cards and stuff like that, that I didn't even consider doing it over LAN 😅 that would be much easier way if doing it.
Still, for those of us who are living in the past I think the whole USB drive thing was probably worth mentioning!
- Rob
I thought this Guy was a Mii Character but this a nice Video Review
How do you GET the tools for downloading the games?
Well for the middle ground you could have mentioned the 512gb OLED which is the one i own and for emulation i have a 1.5TB SD card in my Deck which i have emudeck installed onto.
Right now, i am waiting for if Valve plans on making a Steam Deck 2 while using a custom Ryzen AI CPU instead because it would be cool if the iGPU performs like the RX 570/580 which for emulation you could hook it up to your 4K tele to get better smoother gameplay on a bigger display.
The flexibility of gaming gadgets - under Linux - is truly astounding 🐧
The only bad thing about the steam deck I will warn people about is the black screen of death issue. It doesn’t happen too often but the console will decide just not to boot up and there are ways to get it to come back to life but worse case scenario people have had to have their steam deck replaced. It’s a major issue I hope Valve is going to do something about.
From what's iv seen it seems people have been putting the deck to sleep and not shutting it down then leaving it sit for a few days killing the battery, plug it into the charger for 30mins to a hour and hold the power button should boot right back up
@@inthedark65 I got mine to come back on by doing the battery storage mode trick. For the record I turn mine off when I’m not using it for a while or at night. It only happened to me once while it was sleeping for just a few minutes while I was going to the restroom. It wouldn’t load up and the fan would come on and off loudly. Was weird.
@@DaGhostToastRoast how to to that trick?
@@mbahmarijan789 Tbh I can’t remember exactly. It was a video here on UA-cam that helped.
@@DaGhostToastRoast 😭
you can also send roms through ssh.
The answer is yes. Here, 15 minutes of life are saved.
Yes is the answer
Imagine a dock with 240p, 480i and 480p analog output to plug in CRTs and monitors? WooooooooW
Does emudeck use retroarch as it's emulation backend? I'm a big fan of RA's shaders, and it would be amazing to have the ready to go after installation.
emudeck is merely a collection of emulators- retroarch included. however, most of the emulators are not retroarch based.
@@NinjaWeedle yeah, I knew that, but I just wanted to know if retroarch was one of the options. I managed to get Emudeck running and my Roms transfered after a great deal of googling and troubleshooting. I'm still testing things out but I absolutely love my Steam Deck and Emudeck.
Yes, EmuDeck does use RetroArch but, not for all systems. Like for the SNES for example, I PREFER BSNES-HD, it gives 16:9 backgrounds without stretching. I can change this fairly easy too.
Can u scale the screen down for 16 bit type games? Say it uses half the screen?
AYN Odin 2 is great as well
Yeah I sold my SD oled and ordered an Odin 2 pro as it’s all I really need for emulation etc
Can you download roms directly on to the deck with a website ?
What about the typical purple OLED ghosting/smearing?
I love my Steam Deck OLED, but the purple ghosting in dark areas can be a bit annoying at times.
Hoping to replace my heavy laptop with this and a tablet PC setup for less than 2G USD.. not a high end user.. its easier to carry around.. need a bigger screen, can just get a portable screen monitor and a power bank
tbh if you know where to get trusty roms for your games you don't even need a PC the steam deck is the pc and has a browser in the desktop mode so go into desktop mod download the rom you want and place the file in the proper roms folder and your set
The first 8 seconds of this video summarize my life for the past 2 weeks lmao
Let me save you almost 16 minutes. Yes. It is the most wonderful thing you will ever experience. Do it. Stop hesitating, don’t think about, and feel free to thank me later. 😂
Have a onexplayer mini pro 6800u but I play most of my emulation on my Odin 2 max. It’s lighter and plays most of the switch games I own.
I wish we could get an Apple Silicon handheld. I think the power and efficiency would be perfect for retro gaming. The issue is that if Apple made one it would be so locked out, like their "i" devices, and they will never release "Mx" chips etc to 3rd party developers. I didnt like the hassels I had with my LCD Steam Deck but hats off to Valve for all the improvements the OLED version brought
good afternoon folks! Can you help me? I have a question like that, Legion go or Steam deck OLED? I really want a gaming laptop, which one at the moment, in your opinion, is better?
I've bought my LCD deck literally a week before they announced the OLED.... I love my deck and i play it all the time, but i wish i had the chance bach then to get the OLED instead...
Are you using a different SD card just for Emulation games vs steam deck/PC games?
I'm using the internal storage of the Deck for Steam games and the SD card for emulation stuff. So far I've not ran out of room on either of them!
I returened my lenovo go simply bcus i couldnt get my emudeck to work properly. The roms and bios downloading is very taxing!!!
is emulating on Go really alot worse? i ordered the lenovo go because it has more power than teh SD oled and now i am not sure if i made the right choice. i want to play modern switch games
It's just... Awesome 😀
What about Batocera instead of Emudeck?
Not a fan of 8/16 bit systems on the Steam Deck due to the low DPI and average D-pad. For modern systems it’s great but as mentioned there’s quite a few hoops to jump through which is a little off putting. Overall I generally prefer a dedicated emulation handheld.
LOL more pixels per inch ain't gonna do much to 8/16 bit games. Also, the d-pad is fine.
@@UmVtCg LOL. I’m talking about that the 4.7” screen displays 4:3 games at a mere 3.8” and even less for 8:7 and GB games. You’ll need those triggers in top shape for games that fill that widescreen though.
I really wish handheld gaming devices had cellular like phones
nah I'd buy the steam deck for college (the parents got fooled)
I have a lot of SNES, GBA, GBC, and Sega Genesis roms on my desktop, so would they run on the Steam Deck and auto adjust to the FPS on each game for the best performance and optimization? If I can get download roms for free and the Steam deck can play them through the dock station with a usb or a micro sd card, I would totally get this over the AYN Odin 2. My only concern is the battery life running SNES, GBA, GBC, Genesis, Dreamcast, N64, PS1, PS2, GameCube, Xbox, Android and PC games. I play a lot of 2D games, so I play up to 2-3 hours at a time on video games.
It will piss it. You'll get 6 hours playing those old systems.
Can anyone help - 3ds does respond to physical controls only touch screen inputs
You sound like hypnos in Hades.
After I changed the screen to an HD one, I didn't want to buy the oled steam deck, I think I'll get the Legion GO, normal Steam deck is so good.
11:30 quite a few switch games run well too.
I am waiting for them to fix xbox 360 emulation
I got one but sadly it's never lived up to the shoes the ps vita had back in my teenage years!
12:48 what game is this? Thanks for the very interesting and informative vid!
That's Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island for the SNES 👍 thanks for watching!
Background music ? 12:21
I believe that's the Monkey Soccer music from Super Monkey Ball 2 if I remember right! 🐵
yes, the answer is unequivocally yes. It's a godly machine haha.